On Deaf Ears
by Qym
Summary: Sequel to Unsung. Miley and Lilly have been dating for three years. But even after all this time, there's something in the way. Liley?
1. Numb

**Warnings -- If you want to believe that Miley and Lilly have a happily ever after ending, I'd recommend not reading this. I would really read Unsung before this, as it is a sequel. But you knew that.**

_**So – I did some clean up on this chapter, since I wasn't happy with it. Nothing major.**_

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_I've got a hunger twisting my stomach into knots. _- Sound of Settling, Death Cab for Cutie

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"I can't believe you!"

"Miley, please… don't make this any harder than it needs to be…" Lilly settled her arms tightly around her waist, staring at Miley with stinging eyes.

"I just… You… Get out!" Miley hissed through clenched teeth. Her eyes were set as hard as stone as she looked at her girlfriend. Scratch that, ex-girlfriend.

"I'm sorry…" Lilly rubbed her arm sadly. Three years of her life spent with Miley only to have it end so poorly like this.

"Get out." Miley repeated. She pointed her finger at the door.

"Miles, this is my house." Lilly felt terrible – her eyes prickled desperately, but for the sake of the moment, she held back her tears. Her heart felt like it was being crushed by an overweight Russian man wearing cleats.

"Don't freakin' call me that." Miley was shaking with rage and despair and frustration and hurt and every other emotion possible for an eighteen year old on the edge of breaking. "You don't have that right."

"Fine. Miley, this is my house." Lilly was tired. She glanced down at her hand and spotted the one thing that would help Miley accept the situation, no matter how negative the reaction would be. Although it hurt her emotionally, Lilly pulled the ring off her finger and handed it to Miley. "I'd say that I hope we can still be friends… but I don't know how well that'll work out."

Miley stared at the promise ring that was now in her palm. She finally snapped – without another word, she stomped out of the Truscott house. Legs feeling like jelly, Miley headed for her car. After Jackson had gone away to college, he'd given her the keys to his car on the promise that she wouldn't get make-up all over the interior.

She sat the behind the wheel motionless as minutes eased past. For a while, the tears she had thought were imminent remained locked behind her eyes. Fumbling slightly, she hit the power button on the radio and scanned the stations trying to find something to sooth her nerves. She settled on an empty channel, letting the static wash over her. A good half hour of the white noise had calmed her well enough that she was able to drive. She shoved the key into the ignition and began to drive without any idea of where she was going.

Eventually she pulled off the road and into a parking lot. Her vision had clouded during her hour long drive to nowhere, eyes filling – and spilling – with tears. She still had that darn ring clenched in her fist and she peeled her fingers back, staring at the offensive little thing. When she finally turned her attention away from it, she found herself at an unknown strip of beach. She chuckled weakly and found she couldn't stop; if anybody saw her they might think she was crazy.

Locking the door behind her, Miley hopped out and wobbled through the sand until the water was lapping at her sneakers. She stared down at the ring for some moments and drew her arm back. Motionless, she remained in that pose for what felt like hours instead of the few seconds it truly was. As much pain as it caused her, Miley knew she couldn't throw out the ring that symbolized the promise she'd made to Lilly all those years ago. It just wasn't physically possible.

"What did I do?" She whispered, tucking the ring into a pocket. "Three years together… and I don't know what I did wrong…"

The rapid setting of the sun broke her free from the tortuous thoughts attacking her emotional core. Sighing sadly, Miley trudged back across the beach and into the car. She knocked her shoes thoroughly to rid them of sand before she let her feet enter the automobile. It was then that she realized that she had no idea where she was.

Reaching into her purse, Miley managed to find her cell phone. The first thing that met her eyes upon opening it was a picture of Lilly – Miley flipped to address book as quickly as she possibly could. She scrolled through her list of contacts and settled on one. If someone told her four years ago that she would be calling up Mikayla for support, she would have laughed herself silly.

"Hi, Miley. What's up?" In the three years since meeting Oliver, Mikayla had softened into an entirely new person. While maintaining her professional façade of polite dislike for Hannah Montana, Mikayla had grown inseparably close to Miley. Mikayla's relationship with Oliver had lasted as long as Miley's had with Lilly. Miley cringed to think now that the other two were going to pull ahead.

"I don't know where I am." Miley knew her voice was probably quaking and she tried her hardest not to break down.

"No idea? Street signs?" When Miley didn't respond, Mikayla realized something must be wrong, "Are you at least in California?"

"I think." Miley murmured, "I left Malibu and I think I was headed north."

"How long ago?"

Miley stared at her car's digital clock – the time was around eight at night. She'd gotten to Lilly's at five-thirty in the afternoon and Lilly had wasted no time breaking her heart. "Two hours ago."

"Miles…" Mikayla sighed. "Do you remember anything more?"

"I was hoping you could… I don't know… do a Yahoo map thing." Miley sniffed. "There's a sign near me that says Wachsmaler Beach."

"I'll check. Can you hold on a few minutes while I check it out?"

"Yeah… I've got all the time in the world." Miley muttered. She sat silently while Mikayla ran a quick search on the beach.

"I've got directions, but it'll take me an hour to reach you."

"I just need to know how to get home…" Miley weakly protested.

"No way, Mile. I'm coming to get you." Mikayla put her foot down. No matter how much her personality had morphed during her dating of Oliver, her obstinate nature had remained in tact.

"See you soon…" Miley whispered and shut her phone. She got back out of the car and eased the roof over the car's seats, securing the convertible's top into place. She got back in and rolled all the windows up and locked the doors. It was getting dark out and she didn't want something misfortunate to happen to her.

Sliding the key into the ignition, Miley turned it backwards instead of forward, reviving power to the radio but not starting the engine. The white noise was depressing so she pressed the scan button until some station or another bombarded her ears with a heavy metal band. The lyrics, not that she was in any mood to listen, were drowned out by the righteous guitar and pounding drums. Normally this was the last genre of music she'd listen to, but right then it felt like anything else would mean too much.

If something peppy came on, she'd remember the good times she had with Lilly and then have to realize that she'd never do those things again. If something romantic came on, she'd think about Lilly. If something sad came on, she'd think about Lilly. It was just too dangerous. And besides, she reasoned glumly, it was easy to lose oneself in this kind of music. Just letting the sometimes rhythmic beat pulsate through. No other thoughts. Just that unintelligibly mumbling.

Miley shut her eyes. Her hands fell to her the seat, nails tracing the small stitches that held the car's interior seating together. The hour passed with her mouth duct-tapped shut and her eyes red and glassy, but not wet in the slightest. She had completely zoned out when another car pulled up beside her. Its headlights seemed to pull her out of the mental hole she'd managed to dig herself into, though she wanted to stay deep inside there for the rest of her life.

Mikayla pulled her key free from the ignition but left her headlights on. There was a street lamp nearby, but she wanted as much illumination as possible. One could never be too careful these days. What she saw worried her – Miley had barely responded as the bright lights had flashed through the windows.

It was obvious to Mikayla that something had happened to Miley and also that Lilly was the cause of it. Normally when Miley had a problem, she'd go to Lilly first. But driving out to the middle of nowhere and calling on Mikayla for help definitely meant something was up with Lilly. Mikayla sighed. For someone who was very grounded as far as celebrities went, Miley's life was sure full of drama.

Mikayla stepped out of her car, locking the door behind her. Her car was a slim black Saturn that she had gotten for her eighteenth birthday; she wasn't looking to let it get stolen. Tapping on Miley's window, she tried to get the other girl's attention. Her attempt fell short. Miley's only response was to barely shift.

"Miley Stewart!" Mikayla grumbled loudly, "You drag me out here to the middle of nowhere and then ignore me?"

Miley slowly looked up, knowing how cruddy she must look. Any eye make up she had been wearing had probably been washed down her cheeks long ago. If she looked as good as she felt – she shuddered to think about how that would appear. Regretfully she hit the unlock button on the door.

Mikayla nearly tore the door off its hinges as she yanked the annoying barrier open. She pushed Miley across into the passenger seat and took the driver's seat herself. No sooner had she shut and relocked the doors when Miley tumbled across the distance between them and buried her face into Mikayla's shoulder.

"Shh…" Mikayla wasn't the best at handling these situations, but she did know the basics. "Tell me what happened."

Miley sniffled. She had already finished crying but she felt like bawling all over again. "Lilly… she…"

"Yeah?"

"Dumped…"

"Oh." Mikayla rubbed Miley's back. This was a rather unexpected turn of events. She had thought the two girls were really in love. "Why?"

Miley shrugged weakly. She was incredibly tired both physically and emotionally. "Dunno."

"She just said I'm dumping you?" Though she had gotten better at being patient, Mikayla was still Mikayla. The frustration she felt was laced through her voice.

"I guess." Miley rubbed her nose on her sleeve and leaned back into her seat.

"Miley, I could tell you not to take it personally. I could tell you that this was some kind of misunderstanding or something. But really, it's not going to change what you're feeling. So you might as well suck it up." Mikayla knew her words were rough but she didn't know how else to help. "I mean, acting run down around her is the worst thing you could do."

Miley nodded slowly, though it didn't make sense. If she acted sad, then Lilly would feel bad. A wave of guilt hit Miley like a ton of bricks. Even though Lilly had hurt her deeply, she wouldn't wish ill-feelings on the other girl in a million years.

"You're right… I've just got to… stay strong." Miley took a deep breath. "It's killing me inside, but… I can't let her see how much it hurts."

Mikayla smiled hesitantly, "I'd recommend talking to someone, though."

Miley raised an eyebrow.

"Does it have to be me?" Mikayla complained. She was only half-joking.

"You're the only one who knows what's going on. And besides, I bet Ollie's with… with her."

"Why do I get myself into these situations?" Mikayla groaned.

"Because deep down, and I mean deep, deep, deep down, you love me." Miley suggested; Mikayla wasn't sure if she was thankful that Miley's sense of humor had survived.

"Uh-huh." Mikayla rolled her eyes, "Look, it's getting late. We should get you home."

Miley leaned over the seat again to give Mikayla a small hug and a peck on the cheek, "Thanks, Mickey."

Mikayla almost berated Miley for those two small actions, but refrained. She waved a dismissive hand at Miley, "Just follow me until we get back into your neighborhood, okay?"

"Yes," Miley sighed. "I'll be right behind you."

With a toss of her hair, Mikayla left Miley and reentered her own vehicle. When both cars had their engines running, Mikayla lead Miley out onto the highway and down the long strip of road that would take them home.

0-0-0-0-0

Lilly sank down in the stiff chair, staring at the clipboard that hung off the edge of her father's bed. She read through the medical information in an attempt to keep herself from thinking about Miley. It was only half working.

"Daddy…" She whispered. Reaching out, she trailed the tips of her fingers along the starched white hospital sheets.


	2. Failure

**So the first chapter was kind of a prologue, if you will. The real story is supposed to pick up from here. Although not in this chapter, I will probably end up doing some flash backs to earlier moments in their relationship -- basically highlights of the three years I skipped. Just a warning, this story has a strong chance of ending badly. So again, if you want them to be all happy, just make up your own ending and forget this sequel exists.**

**Instead of quotes, this story will be headed by song lyrics.**

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_And she swears there's nothing wrong  
I hear her playing that same old song  
She puts me off and puts me on - _Bad Day, Fuel

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_Three Days Earlier_

Miley snuggled close to Lilly and closed her eyes. During their three years together, they'd grown incredibly comfortable with each other, even more so than when they were merely best friends. There wasn't an inch of the other that one girl didn't know. While they hadn't had sex, they had gotten extremely close on several occasions and would have finished the job had there not been interruptions.

Lilly lifted a limp hand and settled it on Miley's thigh. It was comfortably quiet between them, each thinking her own thoughts and enjoying the present company. It was almost six o'clock on a Wednesday evening and the couple was relaxing on Miley's back porch. The sky was partially cloudy, but the last strains of the sun were still warming the air enough so that no jackets were needed.

"Lil?" Miley whispered, breaking their quiet moment.

"What?" Lilly shifted slightly and moved her hand from Miley's upper leg to rest upon Miley's knee.

"Didn't you tell your mom that you'd be home by six?" Miley hated being the responsible adult, but she felt that if Lilly got in trouble for spending time with her, Lilly's father would be even less likely to accept her.

"Yeah…" Lilly muttered. She didn't want to move from their positions, but she knew it was inevitable. Her mom expected her home every night for dinner with the family. As it was summer time, not even her brother was exempt. The only exception was when a family member had already made plans.

Miley kissed Lilly's temple gently, "I don't want to get you in trouble."

"I know." Lilly didn't move.

"I'll walk you home, how's that?" Miley negotiated.

Lilly smiled impishly, "And give me a good-bye kiss?"

Miley chuckled, "Of course."

It seemed that that was enough to rouse Lilly from her state of inactivity. She hopped to her feet, dragging Miley up with her. Miley laced their fingers together and the two walked back through the Stewart house and down the sidewalk. Although some of the neighbors had been less than pleased about the relationship years back, nearly all of them accepted it now. The only man who hadn't come around was Mr. Truscott.

They approached Lilly's front door and paused on the welcome mat. Lilly blushed slightly – she was still slightly shy when it came to giving affection, a trait that she knew would probably follow her through the rest of her life. Miley, however, had no qualms about publicly showing her love. She leaned in and gave Lilly a nice parting gift. The door swung open before they pulled away.

"Lillian Truscott, get in the house." Mr. Truscott demanded.

Lilly waved bashfully good bye as Miley set off down the street.

"Sorry, pops." Lilly greeted her father.

He shook his head. In three years not much had changed – he still didn't like the idea of his little girl being in a homosexual relationship, but he also realized that he had no power over who Lilly loved. He was trying to stay away from the two when they were together. It was easy to avoid trouble if he wasn't looking for it. The only place he drew the line, though, was under his own roof. If Miley was over, there was to be no girlfriend activity.

"Dinner's on the table." He stared at her and caused her slight discomfort.

"I'm home on time," Lilly responded and headed for the kitchen. According to her watch, it was thirty seconds 'til six.

"Hmm." He followed her to the kitchen, biting his tongue.

Dinner was uneventful. Lilly talked between mouthfuls about her plans with Miley the next day, trying to ignore the sour look that her father gave her. The two girls were going to take a short drive up to Los Angeles for the day and Lilly was terribly excited. When they were done eating, Lilly and her mother picked up the dishes and brought them into the kitchen. Lilly's brother slunk off to his room to play video games and Mr. Truscott headed to the living room to watch the tail end of a basketball game.

"Why doesn't Dad like it?" Lilly questioned, running the water in the sink for a few moments before checking the temperature. "I mean, like me and Miley."

"Lilly…" Mrs. Truscott was at a loss. She had tried to explain her husband's behavior so many times over the year and she never had anything useful to say.

"I mean, Miles and I have been together three years. I thought he would have gotten over it by now." Lilly dunked a plate into the sink.

"Lilly, you're father'd had those opinions for forty years before you came out. Three years isn't much of a dent in comparison."

"So I have to wait forty years for him to love me again?" Lilly complained, feeling melodramatic.

"You know he still loves you. It's just hard for him to change his mind. He's not young anymore. New ideas are difficult to accept after a certain point."

Lilly sighed and handed a clean dish off to her mother for drying. "I guess I'll wait some more, then."

They continued cleaning the dishes with Lilly washing and Mrs. Truscott drying. Their conversation turned from Mr. Truscott to Lilly's plans for college. Lilly was thrilled about college – She and Miley had both been accepted to U.C.L.A. While they weren't going to be roommates, they'd still be at the same school for four more years.

The phone rang moments before Mrs. Truscott threw down her dish rag with a contented sigh. Lilly leaned on the counter as her mom picked up the phone and listened for a few seconds in silence.

"Oh! I'll be right over!" Mrs. Truscott finally responded. She ended the call and turned to Lilly. "Mrs. Gomez has to take Scotty to the hospital. He broke his arm and she needs me to watch Cindy for an hour or so while she's gone. Tell your dad for me, will you?"

Without waiting for an answer, Mrs. Truscott grabbed her purse and hurried out of the house. Lilly waved good bye to her mom's back before wandering into the living room. She threw herself onto one of the recliners and propped her feet up.

"Mom went down the street. Scotty broke his arm and Mom's watching Cindy." She relayed the information to her father.

Mr. Truscott chuckled. "Didn't he just break his leg last year?"

"Yeah. That was playing soccer." Lilly nodded agreeably.

"Active kid." Mr. Truscott groaned as the team he was supporting missed a three-point shot. The game stopped temporarily as a commercial came on.

Lilly kicked her feet against the furniture, deciding on how to best phrase her question. It just didn't make sense to her and she was dying to know what his problem with homosexual relationships was. While had grown somewhat acceptant in the past few years, he still was dead set against Lilly dating Miley.

She finally settled on an indirect route. "Daddy, why don't you like Miley?"

Mr. Truscott narrowed his eyes. He had been trying to avoid this kind of conversation. "It's not that I don't like Miley."

"So what is it?"

"Lilly, you're a young girl."

"Who loves another young girl, so what?" Lilly didn't mean to be so confrontational, but she was wounded by her father's thoughts.

"Lillian. Nothing'll ever come from it. You can't have kids, you can't get married, you can't do anything." Mr. Truscott shook his head, "Apart from the values I was raised on, it just seems, well, pointless. It's a dead-end relationship and I don't want that for my little girl."

Lilly shook her head vehemently, "It's not a dead end! Miley and I are going to spend our lives together!"

"Lil, you're eighteen. You have a lot of your life still ahead of you. What you want today isn't what you'll want tomorrow." Ed reasoned.

"I'll want her forever." Lilly hissed.

"That's what you say now," he replied, trying to keep his smugness from his voice.

"I know what I want!" She yelled.

"No, you don't!" He let his temper get the best of him. Both of them were on there feet, growling at each other. "You're my daughter, Lilly. I've known you for eighteen years. Five years ago you wanted to a pro-skater, and now you want to study art in college. You will change your mind. I'm trying to save you some heart ache."

"I still want to be a pro-skater, dad," she used his name so disdainfully, he would have sworn it was a weapon, "Wanting to be an artist doesn't change that!"

"It's all because of Miley! She's ruining our family!" Ed responded angrily, "Before you two started this whole mess, you were happy! I was happy, your brother was happy, your mom was happy! We were all happy!"

"And we still are!" Lilly clenched one hand into a fist. She'd never hit her father, but she was quickly losing her composure.

"No, Lilly! We're not!" He was red in the face now. "We… we…"

In a split second, all her anger had faded. She watched in fascinated horror as he mouth gaped a few times wordlessly. He clutched at his chest, his breathing suddenly turning into reedy gasping.

"Daddy?" She questioned nervously.

"Wuh…" He fell to his knees, blood draining from his face.

Lilly stared at him a moment longer before running back to the kitchen and grabbing the phone. Her fingers trembled as she hit the buttons for 9-1-1. The rest of the evening was a blur. By the time the ambulance reached the residence, Lilly was sobbing into her brother's shirt. She wouldn't admit it, but she felt this whole thing was her own fault.

By nine o'clock, all the Truscotts were down at the Malibu County Hospital. Mrs. Truscott had called yet another neighbor to watch Cindy as she rushed to the hospital for her husband. She ran past Mrs. Gomez on the way in with an apologetic wave.

The hours passed with Mr. Truscott unconscious on his hospital. The late night hours drifted by slowly and Lilly nodded off at round three in the morning. She slept uneasily in a chair in the waiting room, head propped against the wall. It was hardly comfortable, but she didn't think she deserved any comfort.

She was roused in the morning as her cell phone jangled in her pocket. Sleepily, she pulled it out and flipped it open, "Hello?"

"Lil, where are you?" Miley's cheery tone did nothing for Lilly's mood.

"Nowhere. Look, Miley, can we do this trip another day? Today's not so good."

"Lilly! We've been planning this for weeks. What happened?"

"It's just a family thing." Lilly tried to make it sound like nothing. In an attempt to get Miley off her back, she perked up slightly, "I'm really sorry about this. I'll make it up to you, I swear."

Miley sighed, "Will you call me later?"

"I'll try." Lilly agreed.

"Love you. See you later, I guess." Miley was hesitant to hang up for she sensed something was up with Lilly. She had learned over the years, though, that pressing Lilly for details didn't always work out. Lilly would come around when she was ready to talk.

"Yeah. Bye." Lilly hung up quickly. She regretted not saying 'I love you' in return, but she didn't linger on it. Miley would understand.

Mrs. Truscott had been dozing beside her and had woken up during the conversation. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Lilly, any change?"

Lilly shrugged, "I just got up."

"Well, I need to run home. I'll bring a change of clothing back for you."

"Where'd Will go?" Lilly questioned, glancing around for her brother.

"He went home about an hour after you fell asleep. He's still got work today." Mrs. Truscott explained blandly. She felt so tired and not just because she had spent the night in a chair.

Lilly nodded. The panic from the evening before had faded slightly from her nerves. Her dad was going to be okay; he was safely in the hospital with doctors who could help him. But it still weighed down on her mind that she had caused this.

"So when will you be back?"

Ellen glanced at her watch. "Two hours, tops, I think."

Lilly got up and stretched. "Okay."

When she was alone, Lilly hurried to Mr. Truscott's room and pulled a chair up to his bedside. The nurses the night before had assured the family that what had occurred was a minor heart failure. Mr. Truscott would be given medication and rest, and would be fine within a few days.

She sat quietly beside her father and gazed at his still face. If only, she thought despondently, if only Miley wasn't such a big issue. So deep in thought was she that she didn't notice a nurse bustle in.

"You his daughter?" The nurse questioned. Her ratty brown hair was pulled into a loose pony tail but most of her hair still billowed around her face. The white scrubs she wore were tighter than they needed to be.

"Yes."

"I remember this happened to my dad when I was your age." The nurse nodded knowingly. Lilly had the feeling that if this nurse was off duty, she'd most likely be chewing bubblegum and popping her inflated balloons loudly.

"Yeah?" Lilly tried her hardest to be polite.

"I was datin' this guy, Ricky. Real bad news guy. My dad didn't like the guy at all, but I o'course worshipped the ground he walked on." The nurse continued. She went to Mr. Truscott's side and took his pulse quickly. "We had this heated argument and just like that, my dad had a conniption or something. Anyway, the stress from his work was already making his heart stressed, and my relationship wasn't helpin' at all."

"Oh?" Lilly bit her lower lip, "So what did you do?"

"What else could I do? I had to dump Ricky 'til Pops got better. It turned out he was datin' on the side, so it was better that we broke up. Pops was happier, too." The nurse pulled back Mr. Truscott's eyelids and flashed a light in them. His pupils fluctuated normally. "So, got a boyfriend?"

Lilly shrugged, "I guess you could say that."

The nurse chuckled, "Well, if he was any part of this, maybe you should think of takin' some time apart. Let your dad heal, an' all."

"I couldn't do that to Miles." Lilly shook her head.

"Miles, eh?" Her preliminary checks finished, the nurse made a few scribbles on the chart that was hanging at the edge of the bed. "Well, I'm not goin' to tell you what to do…"

Lilly shrugged the advice off. It was silly advice, she decided. Like dumping Miley would help her dad get better.


	3. Frigid

**I am a horrible person. I know and accept this fact. Moving on in life, I have no excuses to give you other than I lost inspiration. I'm going to try and give myself a kick start to finish this up. There will be a total of six chapters. So three more after this.**

**Side note – I cleaned up the first two chapters a little. It doesn't affect the main plot at all.**

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_It's not right, not OK  
Say the words that you say  
Maybe we're better off this way?  
I'm not fine, I'm in pain  
It's harder everyday  
Maybe we're better off this way?  
It's better that we break…_- Better That We Break, Maroon Five

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Lilly was sick.

She was sick of sitting in a hospital room. She was sick of watching her father's chest falling slowly, deathly afraid that it might not rise again. She was sick of the blame that was clouding her conscience. She was sick of ignoring her cell phone when Miley tried to call. But most of all she was sick of thinking about that nurse's words.

"Wouldn't help… Would it?" Lilly whispered. She rubbed a fist over her tired eyes. "Naw…"

Getting up from her chair, she walked to the window and leaned on her elbow. The sun winked back at her cheerfully; she frowned and squeezed her eyes shut. She stared down at the ground just outside the window and froze.

Miley was walking up to the building with flowers in her arms. Gulping down her sudden fear, Lilly submitted a quick apology to her comatose father and ran from the room. She bolted down the stairs – forgoing the elevator – and nearly collided with her girlfriend in the lobby.

"Hey, Miles." Lilly tried her best to be cheerful.

"Lilly, I was so worried," Miley thrust the flowers forward, "I brought these for your father, but I don't think he'd appreciate them very much. So I thought I'd give 'em to you."

Lilly accepted the bouquet with a hesitant smile, "Let's get out of here."

Miley tilted her head, quite curious as to Lilly's behavior, but didn't question it, "If you want."

"I've been here for too long. It's been getting to me. Do you have your car?" Lilly started walking for the door.

Miley tailed her, eyebrows furrowed. There was definitely something up, "You know if there's something wrong, you can always tell me."

"I know," Lilly rubbed her hands anxiously on her jeans. Maybe… maybe taking a break would be ok. Maybe they were better off that way. Maybe Miley would understand. And it would just be until her father got better. That was all. "Let's go to my house."

Miley watched Lilly with perceptive eyes and noticed the sudden change in Lilly's mood. It went from stressed to depressed in a heartbeat. "Are we going to talk?"

"Yeah…" Lilly choked out.

"Good." Miley unlocked her car doors and waited for the two of them to get settled in. Once both seatbelts were fastened, she revved the engine and began the short drive to Lilly's home. At every stop, she'd cast her eyes towards her girlfriend; Lilly had her eyes glued outside the entire trip and Miley was vaguely offended by the behavior. She did, however, leave it be. Lilly had, after all, just experienced a very traumatic event.

When they pulled into the driveway, Lilly got out without a word and walked into the house. She went to the kitchen and dug through the cabinets for a vase. Miley sat in the car for a moment longer. When Miley finally came in, Lilly had already filled the vase as was erratically chopping the ends of the flowers off.

"Lilly…" Miley placed her hand gently on Lilly's shoulder. "Put the scissors down."

Lilly grunted but did as was asked. Miley pulled and turned Lilly so that Lilly was facing her. When Lilly tried to look away, Miley caught her beneath the chin with her fingers and forced the eye contact.

"Miley. Don't." Lilly murmured.

"Lilly, I want to know what's wrong."

Lilly sighed, releasing her pent up tension. "Look… Miley, I was thinking."

"Yeah?" Miley could almost feel the air become more chilly.

"And I, well… Well, I think we should take a break."

"A break?" Miley's breath caught in her throat. "Wha… what do you mean?"

"I mean that, well, it might be best if we aren't dating right now."

Miley opened her mouth once, and then shut it. She couldn't find the right words to express herself quite yet. Her tongue darted out and she licked her too-dry lips. "I…"

"Miley. I love you, I do. But I can't do this right now." Lilly gulped slightly, her heart twisting painfully in her chest.

The rest of the conversation seemed to gloss over in her mind. Lilly just couldn't concentrate any longer. As soon as Miley stormed from the house, Lilly ran to her room and threw herself onto her bedspread. Her pillow was soon soaked through and her eyes were out of tears. Reaching to fiddle with her promise ring, she realized in despair that it was gone.

"Ollie… Ollie…" Lilly muttered, trying to get her eyes to work properly. Ollie would help her. She fumbled around her bedside table until her fingers met upon her cell phone. She pressed and held the 2-button – Oliver was on speed-dial.

"You've reached the Ollie Trollie. I'm not in the station right now, but if you leave me a message, I'll ring you back."

She groaned slightly at his lame message and waited for the tone.

"Oliver… I need you." Her tone was short and clipped and she knew he'd take her seriously.

It took him half an hour, but when he returned her call, he sound panicked, "Lilly, what happened?"

"What do you mean?" In the down time, Lilly had gotten control of herself again.

"Mickey just took off. All she said was that Miley went and got herself lost." Oliver waited; he could hear Lilly's breathing change.

"Oh."

"Lilly, are you okay?"

She bit her lip. Talking to Oliver made her eyes prickle again. Scolding herself mentally, she sniffed. She thought she'd gotten past this point. But talking always made it worse again, "Come over."

After they hung up, Lilly wandered from her room and into the kitchen. The flowers from earlier lay strewn about the counter. She shoved them into the sink and dumped the water out of the vase. She barely flinched as her front door opened.

"Lilly. Please tell me you didn't do something stupid." Oliver's voice carried through the house. He wasn't particularly loud, but his tone was demanding.

"I did." She rubbed her eye gingerly before turning to face him. She knew she must look like a complete wreck.

"Geeze. You're a mess." Oliver commented. He sighed, "Tell me about it."

They traveled to the couch and collapsed there. Oliver sat down first, seated forward, and then Lilly sat next to him with her legs over his lap. She nestled her head down on his shoulder.

"There was… a nurse." Lilly sniffled.

"Wow." Oliver muttered sarcastically. He was whacked for his lip.

"She said that it might help my dad if I… you know…" Her voice quavered.

"And you actually listened?"

"Well… you weren't there!" Lilly grew defensive. "It was because of my relationship with Miley that it happened! It's all my fault!"

"Do you honestly believe that?" Oliver put his hand on her knee cap. "Lilly, it's his problem if he doesn't accept you two."

"But I pushed him!" Lilly felt the slow dissolve into tears. Oliver let her cry for a few minutes in silence, but eventually he felt the need to press harder.

"Lilly, it wasn't your fault."

"It was too." Lilly murmured.

"Now you're just feeling bad for yourself. Pull yourself out of this pity-party-pit." Oliver rubbed her back. "So you dumped her?"

"Yeah."

"Well give her a little while to cool off, and then apologize. You know she loves you. She'll forgive you."

Lilly shook her head, "Not this time…"

"What did you do this time?" Oliver groaned, "Mikayla so does not give me this many problems…"

Lilly rubbed her eyes on Oliver's shirt. "I gave her the ring back."

Oliver shoved Lilly's shoulder, "That was stupid!"

"You think I don't know that?" Lilly fell into a new fit of tears, "And now she's gone…"

"You can fix this, Lilly. You can."

She nodded slowly, "But not until my dad is better. Would you mind talking to her? Tell her for me?"

Oliver shook his head, "No… I'm not going to get into the middle of this. You need to do this yourself, Lils."

"I know…" She cleared her throat, "Thanks, Ollie."

"Yeah, no problem. I should probably get home, though. It's dark now and my mom is not going to be happy."

Lilly gave a watery chuckle, "Bye."

With Oliver gone, Lilly went to the bathroom and splashed water on her face. Once her eyes were no longer bright red and glassy, she called her mom's phone and asked for a ride back to the hospital.

She found her seat again and stared at her father's chest. The quiet beeping of his heart rate was a comfort and she soon found herself asleep.

_Her eyes fluttered open and she squinted in confusion. When had she gone home again? She licked her lips and sat up. Stretching her arms above her head, she glanced around her room – and when had she painted the walls black?_

_At the foot of her bed she found an outfit that she had worn when she was six years old, that or thereabout. She glanced down at her body and found – to her great surprise – that her clothing had vanished and she was nude. Grabbing the flimsy outfit in front of her, Lilly tried to drag on the outfit; it was, however, much too small and ripped to pieces in her hands._

_Her bedroom door swung open and a line of people filed in. All people she recognized. Her cheeks flushed brightly as they stared – and laughed – at her bare body. She scrambled to wrap the covers around herself. Miley stepped out of the mass of people and shook her head in a disappointed fashion._

"_Lilly, I expected better from you."_

_Oliver pushed his way until he was beside Miley, "Yeah, Lilly. How could you?"_

_Lilly grabbed a pillow and held on her lap. It was imperfect, but it covered her shame, "I'm sorry!"_

_Miley shook her head, "I'm not the one you should apologize to."_

_Lilly creased her forehead, "What? But…"_

_Miley turned to Oliver and leaned up. She kissed his lips softly and left Oliver standing at the foot of Lilly's bed._

"_She's gone, Lilly. She's mine." Oliver jabbed a finger to his chest._

"_Oliver!" Lilly cried. She reached out and grabbed his wrist. It grew red-hot under her fingers and she was forced to jerk her singed hand away, "Don't leave me, too!"_

_He shook his head and followed Miley. Lilly stared at the jeering faces in front of her._

"_Stop it!" She hollered at the faces. That only induced more laughter._

"You're going to have to leave," a voice jarred her, "Please, go into the hall."

Lilly opened her eyes, panting badly, "What?"

A nurse peered into her eyes, "Please leave."

Lilly stared at her father. He was surrounded by doctors and nurses. She was forcefully ejected from the room – but not before noticing that his heart rate monitor had flat-lined.


	4. Backwards

**So I'm back on track. All the chapters have been planned and the lyrics selected. I feel as though I deserve a cookie. But then I remember how late this is and realize that I deserve nothing.**

**And I'm sorry the chapters are a little shorter than they used to be. I just figured that popping out writing that's a little shorter is better than making everybody wait even longer. So here is chapter four.**

--

_Help me through the hopeless haze  
But my oh my  
Tragic eyes  
I can't even recognize myself behind  
So if the answer is no  
Can I change your mind? _- Change Your Mind, The Killers

--

Lilly stared at the cold linoleum. She felt cold all over, despite the balmy Malibu weather. Her mother's hand was tight on her shoulder. A doctor stood apologetically a few feet away.

"There was… a complication we overlooked." He murmured. Lilly wanted to punch him straight on in the nose. It would be so comforting to inflict pain on this man. The hand on her shoulder was close to cutting off her circulation. "It seems there was a preexisting heart condition."

"What does that mean?" Mrs. Truscott questioned. There were clearly defined tear tracks down her face.

The doctor checked the clipboard in front of him, "There was a hole in his heart that was hidden behind a major artery. We didn't look closely enough. The medicine we were giving him for the heart attack agitated the hole, causing his heart to stop."

"And there's nothing you could have done?" Ellen paused, trying to keep her voice strong, "He's… he's gone?"

Lilly tuned them out. She got up and walked down the hall with a purpose in her footsteps. She burst into the stairwell, ignoring her mother's calls down the hall. She pounded each step with an angry foot as she climbed higher and higher and finally burst out onto the roof.

He was gone. Her father was gone. She slammed her fist into the door, wincing as pain bulleted through her knuckles. Keeping her voice low, she found her way to the lip of the roof and berated the air.

"Why did this happen?" She questioned, staring at a passing cloud. "It shouldn't have happened. Not to me."

Her fingers flew to where her promise ring was supposed to sit. Finding it gone was still a disappointment, but it was a dull sensation at this point.

"And I pushed you away, too." Lilly chuckled dryly. "I'm such a smart kid."

"Lillian?" The door to the roof swung open. "I knew you'd be here."

Lilly didn't move from her spot, "I want to be alone, Mom."

"I want to talk."

"I want to be alone."

"And I want to talk. So just listen." Ellen approached her daughter and wrapped the trembling teen up in a tight hug. "Lilly, this was not your fault."

"How can you say that?" Lilly whispered, "I agitated his heart. I made him die."

Ellen swallowed roughly. While losing her husband was a large blow to her emotions, she was also dying on the inside to see her daughter so tormented. She leaned her forehead on Lilly's back, "Baby, you dad was sick, with your relationship or without."

"It was without there at the end," Lilly muttered darkly.

"What?" Ellen could have sworn she misheard that statement, "What was that?"

"I dumped Miley the other day. So that Dad would get better." Lilly explained.

Ellen grimaced, "Lilly, dumping Miley would only hurt your dad."

Lilly shook her head, "He hated her."

"No, Lilly," Ellen denied, "he hated the fact that his daughter was something he couldn't accept."

"Which means he hated me."

"No! If anything he hated himself," Ellen tried to force a smile onto her face. "Please, Lilly… You can't blame yourself for this. It was not your fault."

Lilly pulled free of her mother's grip. At first she thought she would run and just never stop, but she stopped at the door and turned to face her mother. A small frown adorned her face as she noticed for the first time how aged her mother looked.

"I'll… I'll be back… I love you," Lilly darted away, unwilling to let her mom respond.

Tears stained her eyes to the point where she couldn't see where she was going – not that it mattered. She just needed to get away from that hospital, from those doctors. She dodged between pedestrians, ran in front of cars, and generally made her way haphazardly through town.

When she finally looked up at her surroundings, she found herself at Miley's back door. She would have found humor in this if her day wasn't so terrible. Of all the places she could have gone, she had run to the one person she had hurt the most.

Not bothering to knock on the door, Lilly climbed the outside of the house, not paying a wit of attention to her personal safety, knocked in Miley's window, and crawled onto Miley's bed. She lay there, waiting for Miley to return home and find her. She waited for the moment when even her best friend would throw her out.

It felt like hours to Lilly before she heard the front door open and slam shut. Tensing, she buried her face in Miley's pillow, inhaling Miley's scent to keep from panicking. Terrified, she listened as a set of feet came up the stairs and a hand twisted the door knob. She clenched her jaw.

"What happened to my window?" Miley murmured. She went over to it, noticing for the first time that something was amiss in her room. The window had been roughly pushed open – which could only mean someone, or something, had invaded her space. She whirled around, catching sight of the blonde hair nestled on her bed. "Lilly?"

Lilly moaned slightly, trying to keep her emotions in check. "Uh…"

"Your mom is worried sick," Miley kept her distance, both physically and emotionally. "You need to leave."

"Can't." Lilly murmured. Her body shuddered.

"Well you have to get out of my room. In case you hadn't forgotten, you dumped me?" Miley hissed, bitter agony lacing her words.

"Please." Lilly knew her face was bright red and was glad it was hidden by bedding.

"No."

Lilly pulled her face out of the stuffed prison and stared long and hard at Miley, "I need you."

"And I needed you. Looks like neither of us get what we want."

"I'll… I'll just go…" Lilly staggered to the window and prepared to climb out again.

"Don't." Miley relented. It was too hard pretending that she didn't care. She hurried to Lilly's side and pulled the other girl to the bed again, "What happened?"

"Daddy… he's gone…" Lilly whispered into Miley's ear before tightening her arms around her body defensively.

"Your dad? But I thought it was a minor heart attack."

"Well it wasn't," Lilly snapped.

"Lilly, is this why… why you did it?"

Lilly shook her head slowly. "I thought…. I thought maybe if we weren't… us…. Maybe my dad would get better. I mean, we were fighting that night about it..."

Miley shook her head. "I can't believe you!"

Lilly stiffened, "I'm sorry. Really, I am."

"That doesn't change anything, Lillian Truscott! You threw our relationship away because you thought your dad would feel a little better? That's so stupid I don't know what to say." Miley grumbled, falling into an angry silence.

"I'd give anything to take it back," Lilly was fresh out of tears. There was too much trauma for her tear ducts to cope with.

"Well you can't." Miley hissed. "I'll stay with you until you can walk on your own, but then you've got to leave."

Lilly closed her eyes, "What if I said I couldn't walk without you."

"I'd say you were out of luck."

Lilly rubbed her nose on her sleeve, "I get it. Well… bye…"

Instead of using the window, Lilly headed to the door and left the safe way, knowing Miley wouldn't stop her if she went that way. She passed Jackson and Mr. Stewart on her way out and ignored their sympathetic stares.

She trudged down the street to her house, hoping the building would be vacant when she got there. Luck was with her and the driveway was deserted. She picked her way through the house to her parent's bathroom, opened the lid to the toilet, and emptied her stomach.

Sitting on her knees on the bathroom rug, she stared at the toilet seat with grave disdain.

"I am an idiot."

"Completely stupid."

"Wouldn't be able to keep a good thing in my life if my life depended on it."

She laughed hysterically.

"And now… now I'm talking to myself."

"Way to go, Truscott. If you thought your life couldn't get worse…. Well, wait, it just did."

The phone rang distantly and she pulled herself to her feet. She flushed the toilet and wandered to the nearest phone.

"Hello?"

"Lilly, dear, is that you?" Ellen questioned. She sounded exhausted.

"Yeah."

"I called Miley's earlier, but they said you'd just left. Why didn't you pick up when I called before?"

"You called?" Lilly tried to think back – she hadn't heard the phone ring.

"Yes. Please, stay at home. I'll be back soon with some Chinese take-out."

Lilly stood motionlessly as the dial tone assaulted her ears. Slowly, she placed the phone back on the cradle and closed her eyes. This had to be a nightmare. Just a freakishly bad dream.

Dinner was silent. Lilly stared blankly at the television set as her mother stared blankly at the floor. Will had gotten out of work early and was sitting on the floor with a container of noodles on his lap. The room was stiff.

Lilly wished that she had the energy and will power to turn the television on so that she was staring at something other than a black void. Instead, she took another bite of fried rice. Her stomach was full after only a few bites, but she persisted in eating. She was aware that though her hunger was gone, her body needed something to run on, so she forced half the container down her throat.

"I'm going to bed."

Ellen nodded, "Love you."

Lilly nodded, "Yeah.. Night, Will."

"Night, Lil."

She went to her room and quickly exchanged her clothes for pajamas and curled up in her bed. Despite her exhaustion, she found that her whirling mind would allow no peace for her. She drilled holes in the ceiling with her eyes.

When it was nine-thirty, she could no longer just sit idly in her bed and wish that she had died rather than her dad. She found her cell phone and pressed one on speed-dial before she could change her mind. It rang four times in succession, which she expected, before going to voicemail.

"Hey, y'all. You've reached Miley Stewart. I didn't pick up the phone, so just leave me a message. Thanks." Lilly waited patiently. She knew she deserved this silence just as much as Miley didn't deserve what had happened recently.

"Miley… It's Lilly. I really need to talk to you. I know that's probably the last thing you want right now, but I'd really like a chance to explain myself better. To try and, well, fix things. I understand if you never want to see me again… but I have to try. I love you, Miley."


	5. Mistake

**I realized that I didn't put a disclaimer. ****So… ****I don't own Hanny Montanny. So there. Can't make me.**

**This chapter is frustrating. I had it half written and then Word decided that it disliked me. So we had a fight and it deleted everything. So it's back to square one. Or it was. AND I got back at Word by using Wordpad. Eat that Word.**

**Anyways – I'll be taking a small page out of Kurrent's book in this chapter. If you haven't taken a peek at her writing, it's wonderful and well worth your time. If you're looking for a lengthy, well-written Liley story, she's got two completed works and a third on the way. This has been a public service announcement.**

--

_Every night you cry yourself to sleep  
Thinking: "Why does this happen to me?  
Why does every moment have to be so hard?"  
Hard to believe it  
It's not over tonight  
Just give me one more chance to make it right  
I may not make it through the night  
I won't go home without you. _– Won't Go Home Without You, Maroon Five

--

Miley sunk lower in her chair – she was down in the kitchen listening to the messages on her phone. Robby Ray had his head jammed into the fridge. By the time Lilly's message had played and concluded, Miley was practically in tears again and Robby had found what he was looking for.

He turned from the refrigerator with a jar of jam in his hands. Popping the top, he took a quick whiff and decided the jam was still good. "What's up, Mile?"

"Lilly left me a message," she murmured.

He set the jar next to the plate that held his bread and grabbed a knife from the silverware drawer. "What'd she say?"

Miley pushed her cell back and forth between her hands on the smooth countertop. "She wants to talk to me."

The jam just wouldn't stay on the knife, as Robby Ray found to his growing consternation. He grunted with mild frustration. "Are you going to hear her out?"

"Try a spoon, Daddy." Miley slouched in her chair, "Yes. No. Maybe."

He threw the knife into the sink. "Don't you miss her?"

She twisted her lips into a faint grimace. "Yes."

The spoon, he discovered, worked much better. "So the problem is…?"

"I don't know. Maybe I want her to feel every ounce of agony I did."

Robby cocked an eyebrow in disbelief, "If you say so, darlin'."

Miley's head hit her forearms. "What would you do, Daddy?"

"Go to the beach and get my mind off of things. She probably expects you to take your time and not answer for a while anyway." After eighteen years, Mr. Robby Ray Stewart felt as though he had teenage age girls down.

"Yeah…. You're probably right."

"'Course I am," he boasted, "I'm your dad."

She hoped off her seat and grabbed his freshly-made jam sandwich. "I'll be back before dinner, okay?"

"That's my sandwich…" he trailed off, groaning as she made off with his meal. He brightened, though, as she left the house. "At least I've still got my pie."

He returned to the fridge and reached for the small box of leftover key lime pie that he'd hidden behind the jug of milk. Much to his chagrin, the pie was missing in action.

"Miley Ray Stewart!" He hollered, only to realize he had just finished sending her to the beach with his sandwich. He sighed and reached for the jam.

Miley plastered a grin on her face. It was passably realistic – several beachgoers returned it with a cheerful smile. _How could they be so blissful? _Miley wondered. _So ignorant?_ She ignored the fierce burning of the sand against her bare feet and kept walking. Truthfully, she was used to the pain and it was no longer bothersome.

Her eyes flickered to the water. A surfer just off the coast wiped out. She watched as he surfaced and scrambled to find his board.

"What am I supposed to do?" She whispered, nudging a rock with her big toe. Taking a bite of her sandwich, she shook her head.

She came upon her alcove in the trees and gave a wistful sigh. She'd used this one area to reveal Hannah to Oliver, to dump Jake, and to ultimately come out to Lilly. It held a lot of bitter sweet memories, to say the least. And it seemed that she was about to make another.

She settled down onto the sand and settled her head down onto her palms. Her eyes glazed over and her mind whirled silently. Before she knew it, her eyelids slid down and she slid down into her dreams.

"Miley, what are you doing?"

Miley opened her eyes and rubbed a fist to rid herself of sleep-seeds. She didn't respond at first, but merely stared at the speaker with an open mouth. Eventually she remembered herself and she smiled hesitantly. "Hi, Mom."

Mrs. Stewart was seated in the sand a good five feet away. She beamed at her daughter and patted the sand next to her, "Please don't tell me you've been drinking that Loco Hot Cocoa before bed…"

Miley shook her head, "It's not that."

"So what is it this time, sweet pea?" When Miley was seated beside her, Mrs. Stewart draped an arm around her daughter's shoulders.

"Lilly."

"What's wrong with Lilly?"

Miley blushed slightly, "We were dating."

"That's new." Mrs. Stewart chuckled. "But not unexpected."

"You're not mad?"

"'Course not, darling." She rubbed Miley's back gently, "You're my little girl. I'll always love you."

"And she dumped me." Miley finished.

"So you're trying to move on?"

Miley shook her head, "No, more like trying to figure out if I should forgive her or not."

"Mind telling me the whole story?" Mrs. Stewart waited patiently as Miley related the recent events and fell silent again. "Sounds like Lilly was and is going through a tough time right now."

"Well, yeah." Miley conceded.

"Seems to me that you should be helping her, not pushing her away."

Miley ducked her head, "But she hurt me."

"Miley Ray, when have your father and I ever taught you that two wrongs make a right?"

Miley shrugged distantly, "Never."

"It's 'cause they don't."

"But what if I forgive her and she hurts me again?"

"Mile, that's what love is. Giving someone the power to hurt you but trusting them not to. It's also forgiving and growing and accepting. We all make mistakes. We all deserve a second chance."

Miley smiled faintly, "Thanks, Mom."

"Don't thank me. You're the one thinking all this…"

Miley blinked suddenly and found that the sun was setting. She yawned slightly and stared at the ground a few feet away; the sand appeared untouched, but it didn't change the fondness she felt for that empty patch of space.

Her phone jangled loudly in her pocket and she pulled it out, "Yeah?"

Robby Ray was not a happy father, "Mile, it's seven-thirty. Where are you?"

Miley glanced around, "I fell asleep at the beach. I'll be right back."

She hurried through the sand. The beach was mostly deserted, but she spotted a blonde head lying in the sand by a lifeguard tower, a surfboard propped directly beside. She hesitated but knew what had to happen.

"Lilly?"

Lilly didn't want to move at first, afraid this was a dream, but she propped herself up on her elbows and squinted through the setting sunlight, "Miley?"

"Lilly, I'm ready to listen."

Lilly stood up suddenly, ignoring the sudden tunnel-vision in her eyes and the crashing of her surfboard as she knocked it to the side, "Really?"

"Really." Miley reached out and placed a hand on Lilly's forearm.

Lilly cleared her throat and opened her mouth. It snapped shut a few seconds later and her eyes darted away. "I had prepared something to say… and now I can't remember… I never was a good public speaker."

Miley felt her confidence crumbling away, but was determined to stay. "I'm listening. But I do have to get to dinner in like five minutes."

Lilly closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried again, "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I know you are." Miley responded despondently.

"And I know I was stupid. Completely and utterly stupid."

"Yeah, I know."

Lilly flushed slightly but continued. "And I can't believe that I'd allow myself to hurt you. I'd never want to hurt you ever and I don't know what I was thinking. But I'm hurting, too."

Miley's harsh tone cracked, "I… I know."

"And I hate myself more and more when you're not with me." Lilly admitted, "Every moment I spend hating myself is time I should be spending making your life better. And it kills me inside that I had to go and screw up what we had. 'Cause we had something really nice."

Miley broke their eye contact to stare at the toppled surfboard, "I know."

Lilly was slightly disheartened, but pressed onwards, "I'm running out of things to say. It sounded so much better in my head, but all I can do is ask you for forgiveness and hope you don't hate me forever."

Miley knelt beside the board and dusted the sand off of it, "Did you wax it today?"

Surprised by the change in subject, Lilly shrugged, "Yeah. But I think it just made my surfing worse. I totally wiped out earlier. It was bad."

Miley thought back to the accident she witnessed earlier. "I think I saw you."

Lilly's cheeks colored significantly. "Well."

"I'm sure this is just an off day for you."

Inside, Lilly was going crazy. She'd apologized, poured her heart out, and now Miley seemed to be avoiding the topic. "More like an off week."

Miley grimaced, "I know what you mean about that."

"Well…" Lilly didn't want to add that Miley's life couldn't possibly be worse than her own.

"But I know it can't compare with yours," Miley picked the board up and jammed it back into the sand.

"I wasn't going to say anything," Lilly joked weakly.

"And so I guess it's my turn to apologize."

Lilly's eyes widened and her body tensed, "About what?"

"I should have been there for you." Miley shook her head, "You dumped me as a girlfriend, but I should have been there as a friend."

Lilly felt help swell in her chest, "So we're friends?"

"Yes." Miley nodded, "Friends."

Lilly bit her lower lip. "And would you want me again? As a girlfriend?"

Miley stared at her.


	6. Final

**Final chapter. Er. Sorry this took as long as it did. It just went through several changes until I was satisfied with it. I'm pretty bad with endings. I guess it's 'cause life ain't supposed to end. **

**And well. I'm sorry, but I guess the rating goes up with this one. It's not bad, as I am not one for writing such things. Reading? Sure. Writing? Not so hot. And I'm allowed now. My eighteenth birthday was in January.**

--

_You and I  
We never had it easy baby  
We had to work so hard  
And every time it feels like we're gonna make it  
That's when it falls apart, but_

--

Lilly bit her lip and waited. She trained her eyes on Miley's face, however cold it might have appeared. If her nails wouldn't taste of salt and sand, she would have nibbled upon them anxiously.

Miley's frozen demeanor broke. Her smile became more natural and her muscles relaxed. "Do you want to have dinner with us?"

Lilly was both confused and relieved all at once. "What?"

"Dinner, my place. Coming?" Miley held out her hand.

It wasn't the answer Lilly had been looking for, but it was something. Taking the offered hand, Lilly nodded, "Of… of course."

"You can call your mom from my house if you need to let her know where you are." Miley laced their fingers together as they padded through the sandy hills. "So… are you okay?"

Lilly shook her head negatively. "No."

"Well, you'll heal." Miley assured her with a slight squeeze of their joined hands. "I'll help."

By the time they'd reached the Stewart residence, Lilly was hungrier for a real answer than for dinner. But she bit her tongue, afraid that she'd push Miley too far too soon. To all appearances, though, Miley was saying yes, but Lilly refused to rejoice until Miley actually responded verbally.

Dinner was a small home cooked meal consisting of a medium-rare flank steak, steaming vegetables, and well-mashed potatoes. As she filled her empty belly, Lilly couldn't help but notice her empty heart. While Mr. Stewart had made no comment at her arrival, she had felt out of sorts with the man and almost unwelcome at the dinner table.

"I dreamed about her." Miley's voice interrupted Lilly's thoughts.

"Who, darlin'?"

Lilly nibbled on a fluffy forkful of potatoes, "Yeah, who?"

"Mom," Miley responded, unable to keep a silly grin off her face.

Robby Ray wiped with his napkin, "Yeah?"

"Yeah. She told me that loving someone means forgiving them."

Robby nodded, "You momma always did have great advice."

Lilly waited, but it seemed that Miley was done talking. The table fell silent until Miley was finished eating. She pushed herself away from the table.

"I'll get the dishes later, Daddy." She bounded up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

Lilly remained seated and Robby tapped her hand, "Aren't you going to go after her?"

Snapping to attention, Lilly nodded, "I... yeah… I think."

"Lilly, the ball's in your court, kiddo." Robby Ray advised, "May seem like you're doin' all the work, but that's how it is."

Lilly nodded, her courage suddenly nowhere to be found. It took her a moment to get to her feet and trudge upstairs. She found Miley in Hannah's closet. Miley was fiddling with her stereo system, back to the door. As Lilly opened her mouth to speak, the music started. Lilly's weak interjection died on her lips.

Miley turned to the door and beckoned for Lilly to fully enter. Lilly stepped apprehensively inside, shutting the door behind her. Watching Miley turn to the racks of clothing, Lilly felt the need to try again bubble up.

"Miley."

The brunette's head popped up, "Yeah?"

"I want you back."

They stared at each other for a few tense seconds before Miley bit her lower lip and smiled.

"That's good…" she responded. Lilly's jaw dropped.

"That's good?" Lilly sputtered, ignoring the fact that Miley had reopened her mouth. "That's all I get? I just… well. Fine. Be that way. You can't say I didn't try."

Lilly fled the room and the house before Miley could finish her statement.

"Because I want you back, too."

Desperate to fix the error, Miley gave chase, pounding downstairs. She yelled quickly to her dad that she would be at Lilly's and not to worry. Running out the door, she took off down the street, wishing that Lilly wasn't so fast. Cursing the fact that she was wearing slip-on dance shoes with no traction or support, she hurried through the evening air.

She pounded on Lilly's door but when no answer came, Miley went around back. She knew the Truscotts kept a spare key under a fake rock in the garden – Several minutes later she was inside. She could hear loud thumps from Lilly's bedroom, so that was her first stop.

She found Lilly through books off a bookcase. The books fluttered through the air and smashed into various pieces of furniture and the wall. Lilly was muttering furiously under her breath, but Miley couldn't catch the words.

"Lilly!"

Lilly hesitated, "What do you want?"

"You left before I could finish."

Now Lilly completely froze. "Say what?"

Miley closed the distance between them and placed her hands on Lilly's forearms.

"I was going to say I want you back, too." To cap off her statement, she pressed a kiss on Lilly's astounded, slightly gaping mouth. She gripped Lilly in a tight hug.

"So…" Lilly tried to form a coherent thought. "So I stormed off… for no reason?"

Miley chuckled, entirely relieved, "Just a little."

Lilly went lax in her arms, "Well I'm glad my mom isn't here to see my mess."

Miley nested her head on Lilly's shoulder, "Where is she anyways?"

"She's staying with her sister for the night. I… well, I told her I was staying with Oliver's family." Lilly chuckled, "She wouldn't want me here alone."

Miley placed a feathery kiss on Lilly's neck, "You're not alone."

Lilly flushed slightly, "Well, yeah, but she doesn't know that…"

Miley made her way along Lilly's jaw-line, peppering kisses every few centimeters. She paused a moment as she came upon Lilly's lips.

"I'm sorry," Lilly interjected quietly.

"I know." Miley kissed her.

"I'll never do it again."

"I know." Another kiss.

"I need you."

"I know." Miley cut off further conversation by giving Lilly's mouth a longer-term project. Her hands crept to the hem of Lilly's shirt and tugged experimentally. Lilly's elbows had been previously locked at her side relaxed. Breaking their lip lock only to remove the offensive material, Miley pushed Lilly backwards slowly until the back of Lilly's knees hit the twin-sized bed on the other side of the room. Lilly leaned back onto the mattress, pulling Miley with her. And for a while there was only the sound of ruffled clothing being tossed aside and a few muted moans.

Miley ran her fingers down Lilly's back, enjoying the skin-on-skin contact. Lilly, for her part, shuddered as Miley's fingers trailed a little too low. She bit gently onto Miley's collarbone as Miley found her center.

"Ah…" Lilly had been supporting herself on her knees, but found it very hard to stay up; she collapsed against Miley's body. Miley used this as an excuse to resume her position on top. Sliding her legs apart, Lilly thrust her head back into the mattress, her eyes closed.

Miley's mouth wandered down Lilly's prone body, stopping at Lilly's chest. She licked up to the peak of one mound, taking a deliberately slow pace. Her fingers, otherwise occupied, kept time with the motion of her mouth.

Lilly's hands tightened on the bed sheets. Her body felt like it was on fire – though she had no desire to put it out. Her leg twitched as Miley's fingers worked their magic. She could vaguely feel one of Miley's hands massaging her inner thighs, and she was aware the Miley was paying homage to her chest, but all she could focus on were those fingers.

"My… Miley… Please…"

Grinning wolfishly, Miley removed her moist fingers. Lilly panted beneath her, but opened one eye in response. She watched as Miley sucked on her fingers for a moment before the brunette's head disappeared from sight. Seconds later Lilly could think no more. Her legs tightened involuntarily around Miley's body, trying to hold the other girl in place.

Every muscle in Lilly's body tensed and Miley drew back, proud of her hard work. When Lilly went limp against the bed, Miley crawled her way back up Lilly's body and cuddled the blonde. Lilly gasped, trying to catch her breath.

"Where… Where'd you learn that?" She managed to whisper huskily.

Miley chuckled, "I do read, you know."

Lilly nuzzled Miley's cheek with a contented smile. "Love you."

"Love you, too." Miley cocked her eyebrows at her Lilly, not content to rest just yet. "Lil…"

"Yeah, Mile?" Lilly returned the facial expression with a lecherous smile.

As the evening hours turned to early morning, they curled up together, fast asleep. It was around three-thirty in the morning when the door to Lilly's room creaked open and a pale figure entered the dark room.

It floated across the floor and solidified at the base of Lilly's bed. He sighed deeply, eyes fixated on the sleeping form of his daughter. Reaching out, he rested his cool fingers against Lilly's cheek.

"I'm sorry, Lilly-bear." He whispered. "I want you to be happy."

She shifted in her sleep, quite oblivious to any supernatural occurrences. "Love you, daddy."

"Love you, Lilly."

As he dissipated, Lilly yawned and sat up slightly. She had gotten the oddest feeling that she and Miley weren't alone. But a quick scan of the room assured her that they were safe and no harm would come to them. She smiled sleepily and settled back down.

--

_Oooooooohoo  
Baby I'll take my chances with you_.

_Love is what you make it  
So give it one more try  
Cause I get turned down when you're not around  
I just can't take it all. _– I'll Take My Chances, The Click Five

--

**And thusly it ends. I don't think I'll ever follow this one up, so this truly is where it ends. Thanks for all the reviews and support. Much love – Qym.**


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